Chapter 15 To Guard to the Death

The incredible saves that Sun Pan made had become quite commonplace for Hao Dong and the others on the sidelines. During their time in Europe, they had witnessed Sun Pan's remarkable performances countless times.

But no matter how accustomed they became, they still got excited every time they saw it.

More importantly, the entire team was united in this defense. If one player made a mistake, no problem, another teammate would immediately step up to fill the gap.

Li Lin Yuan made a mistake at the end, failing to kick the ball away, instead it went to Ceballos’s feet. No matter, Sun Pan rushed out in time to block Ceballos’s shot.

Sun Pan batted the ball towards the center, and Guo Nu cleared the ball off the line, giving Sun Pan a second chance to make a save.

This was what they were most happy to see.

A team, a real team.

※※※

Sun Pan’s save was the closest that the La Masia Youth B team came to scoring in the first half. The ball flew towards the virtually empty Chinese goal twice in a row, but both times it was blocked.

This also severely dampened the morale of the La Masia side. They couldn't believe that such a golden opportunity to score had been missed…

After the corner kick was taken, it didn't pose any threat to the Chinese team.

This time, Sun Pan didn't even have to出手 (chūshǒu, to take action). Guo Nu leaped high, overpowering Bartra and Muneisa, the two center-backs, and headed the ball out.

Despite his short stature, his jumping ability was extremely good, and his positioning for headers was very precise. Therefore, he could often control the first point of contact in front of the goal.

The first half ended a few minutes later, with no change in the score.

1:0, the young Chinese footballers were in the lead!

This result was definitely unexpected by everyone before the game - except Zhou Yi.

Having simulated many games in fifAol3, Zhou Yi knew that leading the La Masia Youth B team in the first half was nothing strange.

The real difficulty lay in the second half.

In the second half, as he and his teammates' stamina declined, the Chinese team's control would weaken, and La Masia's offensive would definitely continue to rise.

At that time… if they couldn't withstand their attack, the team might collapse. All the efforts of the first half would be in vain.

So, the second half was the most crucial part.

He walked off the field, wanting to seize these fifteen minutes to rest more and quickly recover some stamina.

The other Chinese players were chatting and laughing as they walked off the field, pumping their fists to encourage each other. They were very satisfied with this first half.

In contrast, the La Masia Youth B team players were walking off with their heads down, their steps hurried, and their mood was low.

Perhaps even now, their minds were filled with Sun Pan and Guo Nu's two saves in front of the goal. They hadn't been able to recover from the blow of missing the opportunity to equalize.

Youth team coach Borel also left technical director Garcia behind and quickly headed to the locker room to arrange the tactical arrangements for the second half.

The expression on his face was also not good.

The team was playing like this, one goal behind, and as the team's coach, he felt ashamed.

In front of La Masia's bench, the coaches and players had all left, leaving only Garcia.

Garcia sat in his chair, not moving.

Originally, as the technical director of La Masia, he had a lot of things to do. He had planned to only watch half a game, just to show his face and express his accompaniment as the host. He would leave after watching the first half and go to busy himself with his own affairs.

But now, after watching this first half, he had changed his mind.

He decided to watch the entire game.

He hoped to see his team improve in the second half, reverse the situation, and defeat the Chinese team, so as not to shame La Masia.

On the other hand, he was also very interested in this Chinese team. Compared to their last performance, they had been completely reborn. He could see a little of the reason for this. It was all because number sixteen had come on the field. With him on the field, the Chinese team's midfield had more control, but the most important change was not this, but that after he was on the field, the team seemed to be more united. Everyone knew what to do and how to do it, without arguments or hesitation.

During the game, Garcia saw Zhou Yi communicate with his teammates many times. He spoke with both words and gestures, and his teammates listened and nodded. During the game, he would also constantly shout something, and his teammates would take action based on his words.

Obviously, he was commanding this team, leading them, and his teammates were listening to him.

Garcia had wanted to inquire about who this number sixteen was from the Chinese team during the first half, but it was inconvenient.

During halftime, the Chinese team had also withdrawn, and he couldn't find anyone.

Now he could only wait until the end of the game to ask Hao Dong for information.

Garcia was even considering signing this number sixteen.

Because the way that number sixteen played reminded Garcia of the current midfield core of Barcelona's first team, the second captain, Xavi.

※※※

In the locker room, Zhou Yi sat in his seat, motionless, as if he were paralyzed.

He was trying his best to recover his stamina and conserve his energy.

The other teammates were very excited and were still shouting when they returned to the locker room.

It wasn't until Hao Dong came in that they gradually quieted down.

After all the players were quiet, Hao Dong said to them: "Don't be too happy too soon. We're only one goal ahead, and the defensive pressure is very high. The second half will be the biggest test for us."

Everyone understood what he meant. In fact, there was another reason: Zhou Yi's stamina.

So when he said this, some people glanced at Zhou Yi. Zhou Yi was still sitting in a paralyzed state, without even changing his posture. Perhaps he thought that opening his mouth to speak would waste energy?

"In the second half, we will play counter-attacking football. The opponent will definitely press forward. Counter-attack if there is a chance, but if the opportunity is not good, don't counter-attack rashly," Hao Dong continued.

But he didn't say what specific situation would be considered a good opportunity and what situation would be considered a bad opportunity.

This kind of thing couldn't be arranged before the game. It could only be judged by the players themselves after they were on the field.

Therefore, at this time, a player's football IQ and judgment of the game situation were tested.

Some players who were not clear-headed would only know how to make a direct pass when they were anxious, which would lead to frequent losses of possession, and ultimately lead to goals and losses.

There were also some players who were hesitant and afraid to take responsibility, even if they were facing a very good opportunity, they would not dare to make a risky choice.

These people could not serve as the team's offensive core.

But Hao Dong knew that Zhou Yi could be competent for this job.

When judging when to take risks and when to be conservative, Zhou Yi didn't act like an inexperienced amateur player or a half-baked midfielder.

Hao Dong certainly didn't know that Zhou Yi looked so experienced because he had played hundreds of games in the fifAol3 world in the past two months.

It should be noted that if a professional player's team can participate in various domestic competitions and continental cup matches, and they all reach the final, plus national team matches and various warm-up matches and friendlies, and he also has to be an indispensable main player for the team, without injuries, and without being in a low state, then he may participate in a maximum of eighty games in a season.

And what about Zhou Yi? In the virtual world, he can play eight games a night. Two months, sixty days, sixty nights, that's four hundred and eighty games - he has completed the game volume of a player for nearly six seasons in just two months!

This is very impressive for the accumulation of experience.

Therefore, although Zhou Yi's resume is very shallow and blank, his performance makes anyone think that he is a veteran who has been through many battles.

This makes people who know him very puzzled, and they can only attribute it to - extraordinary talent.

※※※

In the La Masia locker room, coach Borel was calming the players' inner anxiety and loss.

He had nothing to criticize about the team's performance. Although his face didn't look good, he didn't vent his anger on the players.

After all, this wasn't really related to the players' performance. Apart from underestimating the enemy, what was the point of talking about underestimating the enemy now?

Moreover, after falling behind, the team had put away their thoughts of underestimating the enemy and had been very active and proactive, and their play was also organized.

But they just couldn't score a goal.

Looking at the last stage of the first half, the opponent's goalkeeper made two saves, even if there were no goals… It didn't seem to be the players' fault.

Now the most important thing was to prevent the players from being affected by the score and from being affected by the opponent's goalkeeper's extraordinary performance.

So he told his players to remain calm and not to be anxious.

"... As long as you perform normally, the opponent cannot win. So remember, the only ones who can defeat you are yourselves, don't pay too much attention to the opponent's goal."

After being comforted by him, the players' emotions finally stabilized.

He didn't make any tactical adjustments, because the tactics were perfect, and it was impossible to adjust them better. Moreover, the team's style of play was correct and didn't need to be adjusted.

As long as the players had a peaceful attitude, the goals that should come would naturally come.

Only one thing, Borel asked Bakari Mendes to strengthen his containment of number sixteen when the opponent was controlling the ball.

He could also see that number sixteen was the core of the Chinese team, and his performance determined the success or failure of the Chinese team.

※※※

When the players from both sides reappeared on the field, they found that there were more people watching the game than in the first half.

Perhaps because they heard that the La Masia youth team was actually behind in the game, many people had come specifically to see what was going on.

There were about a hundred spectators, and they were scattered on the three sides of the field, making the atmosphere of the game more lively.

This surprised the Chinese players who were playing.

"Why are there so many more people after one halftime break?"

"It's a pity that they are all cheering for them."

Everyone couldn't understand the shouts from the people on the sidelines. If they couldn't understand them, it meant that they were definitely all Catalans.

The shouts from a hundred people were still quite imposing here.

"Now I finally feel that we are on the road..." one player said. "I'm afraid there will be boos when we get the ball?"

"Isn't that great! It will be more interesting to beat them like this!" Sun Pan said excitedly. He was the type of goalkeeper who got more and more excited as more people watched. If no one was watching, he might not be able to get excited.

"It's not a big deal," Zhou Yi said. "No matter how many people they have, they can't come to the field to help them play."

The shouts of more than a hundred people didn't affect him at all, because he had always been playing in the Camp Nou in the virtual world, and it was a packed Camp Nou. The momentum there was much greater than this.

Having played in that kind of environment for a long time, Zhou Yi's ears had automatically blocked out the sound. The cheers of the Barcelona fans sounded like light music playing in a restaurant to him. It was purely a background decoration and couldn't affect him in the slightest.

"Let's go, guys, there are still forty-five minutes left, let's win this game!"

After saying that, he entered the field.

And his teammates followed behind him, walking onto the field together.